32

CLAIM OF AKIRA HIRATAlNo. 146_85_1?86. Decided August 2b, 19b01

T.INDINGS OF FACN

This claim, in the amount of $216.b1, was received bvthe Attorney General o' lfur.tr*zJ."rgng. It involves aIoss on the sare of a rgii*d;]G prvmouth businesscoupe, which claipran' ir,. .ri*'frll.ti jl'il%ff ,l5i:*.#:ffil1fornia, on Decemb e,r 2,6,I9]a,;il;;".re parents, and atno time since Dece^au, z,.igii ffi he gone to Japan.At the time of his,evacuaiiorr, .iuirnunr was married toMiyoshi Hirata, *:

-.: !;"S1ot"rou"r 16, 1919, inPasadena, California, of JapanerJ-pu.urrt . MiyoshiItrirata was evacuared wirh h;;;;;;rcl on May t, tg42.She has never at any time since C"..*n". Z, 1941, goneto Japan and has never been internJ. On December Z,1941, and for some.ti*u prio, lillruil "rui_unt actuarvresided at B0l2 South Wu.i"." auu"*, Los Angeles, Cali_fornia, and was livin^g "t irrai"ajr*J?,nu" he was evacu_ated on May t, tg!i: u"a ."rJT Sr"r, Anita AssemblvCenter, Arcadia, c.iiio*iu, ;*i il; there to postonRel ocation Cen ter, porto"li"il"iu.' "crui-ant

was awareof the fact that he could ,rot tut " itre automobile to theRelocation Center with him. -a

f"i days prior to hisevacuation, he asked one-Unoki, "f ;; Asahi Motor SalesCompany, to sell his car for him. iiu"i_urrt drove his caruntil the dav before rriu u"u.rulior" itrun unoki advisedhim that he had a purchaser f;hil;;;;nd gave him g25.Claimant turned his car over to Unoki and never receivedany additional money from the .;l_';; the car. IIe didnot know whether lre -{Zf renr*."r# the sale price ofthe r:ar or whether Unoki lrt"r-;ffii"rl, *".u, and there

IIIRATA

ugust 25, 19501

,cn

16.51, was received by2.1949. It involves are Plymouth businesson the time payment

Jouth Pasadena, Cali-panese parents, and atras he gone to Japan.imant was married toeptember 16, 1919, inse parents. Miyoshiiband on May l, L942.,ecember 7, 1941, gonened. On December 7,reto claimant actualiynue, Los Angeles, Cali-ss when he was evacu-Santa Anita Assembiyfrom there to Poston. Claimant was &warethe automobile to thefew days prior to histhe Asahi Motor Salesllaimant drove his carr when Ilnoki advisedcar and gave him 925.oki and never receivedle of the car. IIe didnted the sale price ofit for more, and there

33is no evidence to show whether it was sold for more. ThefL"lt*:nase

price of claimant,s ca" was $b04.98, includ_rng tax, insurance and interest. At the ti*u .fui_untturned the car over to Unoki, t. o*.a a balance of ffiI84.42on it. The fair and reasonuUf" oufuu of ciaimant,s car atthe time of his evacuation was $ggS.g3. At that timethere prevailed a condition *fr"r"in there wa.s no freemarket upon which claimant .ouiJfrurru disposed of hisequity in his automob'e ut u r.uuonabre varuation andthe claimant acted reasonably ;;;. the circumstancesin turning his automobile over"toU""f.i.

NEASONS FOR DECISION

The evidence submitted by claimant in his swornstatement is entitled to weighi. it " ir,rr..tigation dis_closes no evidence cliscreditifi hi. tuuii^orry. The claim_ant presented for examination the-originar conditionalsales contract dated March_1g, fili, .,ria.ncing the pur_chase of the subjectautomobile. Th; contract was signeclby M. Tada, president ot trru Arl,rri lltoto, Sales Com_pany and required a {own payment of $107.gt ;"d l;monthly payments at the "atl oi gii.Ogper month begin_ning April Ig, Ig 4L. - -On April eO,lgii,' "taimant deliveredhis automobite to Unoki, who;;;; iim gzs and advisedthat he had found a purchaserlo, ttulur. At that timethere was an unpaid Uuru".u orl lii.+z on the automo_bile, in_cluding interest and irr.ururr.". In view of thecompelling circumstaaces existing at the time of his evac-uation and inasml.-h ** tf."r" i"i.iut no free marketupon which he could have sold ttru urrioroobile at a fairand reasonable price, the claima"il.[a in a reasonab]emanner in delivering his automobile to Unoki, ih;;;;:man, for g2b. rn April rg42, thebrue boot varue of cars"{ 11:_tyne in questlon *", !f+is.--ii.t. uruu book valueof $415 is only an average value of cars of the type inquestion. Accordingry, ihe acturi-.,rJiu" of craimant,scar might be above or below the blue UJot .rrutr", depend_

34

ing on its general condition' Claimant's statement of

ciaim in the amount of $216'51 is in the nature of a

.tut.ro.r,t against interest' As such it has value as his

estimate of his loss, based on his personal knowledge of

ifr" u.t.rut state of the car' The fair value of the car

-"t-iJ easily determined, therefore' by adding . the

,*f""t owed on it ($154'42), the amount received on-rf"

imZfl, and the a-ou"t ciaimed as the loss on sale

of the car ($216'51), making a total of $395'93' This

."* "t $gg5.gg, therefore, since it bears a reasonable

,"tution to the blue book value of $415' must be-taken

;;;;;"-""ting the fair and reasonable value of the car

o" tft" date of the sale' This sum must be reduced' to

determine claimantis loss, by the amount owed on the

car, plus the amount received on sale' or by $li9'12'

leaving an uncompensated balance of $216'51' which the

claimant is entitledJo '"tei"e under the above-mentioned

Act as compensation for loss of personal property as a

reasonable and natural consequence of his evacuation'

Such a loss on .'1", o" the iacts-found' is allowable'

Toshi Sh'imomaye,'*'t', p' 1' The claimant's wife'

Miyoshi Hirata, uiiitougtt tiigiblg tociaim under the Act'

has fi}ed no separat" tLi-' This claim includes' there-

fore, all interest' of the marital community in the subject

property. Tokutaro Hata, ante' p' 2l'

(

tN

This claithe Attorrinvolves lofurniture rand a canron Januar,since Dece:Decemberant residecas Route !iiving at Iated on A'to Executiter, SalinalCenter, PMountainnot take hrelocationhe stored ii n g t o a Ccommunit;sion to dowrote theto his proreleased frrto work inmoved frostored. Btconsiderab